Arrangement for Covering a Floor

ABSTRACT

Covering method for a floor or another surface which method is implemented with the help of surface elements, such as tiles ( 1 ) to which method positioning of surface elements ( 1 ) onto the intended surface in order to form the desired figures onto the surface by using frames ( 2 ) and devices ( 4 ), which ensure the stability, belongs. The method comprises a casette to which a bottom ( 3 ) of the casette and a frame ( 2 ), which can be attached on top of the bottom ( 3 ) of the casette or is built fixed to it and which controls the installation of the surface elements and their stability, belong whereupon the edges of the mentioned frame ( 2 ) are adjusted to form a opening with the other, respective edges of the frames ( 2 ) of the casettes to which opening an interlocking piece ( 4 ), adjusted to the shape and the size of the hole, can be installed.

This invention relates to a covering arrangement for a floor or other surfaces implemented with the help of surface elements, such as tiles to which method positioning of the mentioned surface elements onto the intended surface belongs in order to form the desired figures onto the surface by using control devices and devices that ensure stability.

Previously various tiles are known as floor coverings, such as stone tiles, mosaic tiles and moulded or compressed tiles in such a way that they are regularly arranged and locked to the base material with the help of a tile glue or plaster. In known solutions the tiles are installed in such a way that they have a joint distance of several millimeters between them. The joint is eventually filled.

With the help of the above mentioned solution tile figures are to be formed by arranging tiles in various colours or various sizes whereupon in these arrangements the tiles often need to be cut and especially in these arrangements maintaining the joint width and the thickness of the joint stable in the whole area is difficult. Also the material of the tile usually has to be the same material in these when only the colour changes. Formation of figures onto the floor by using various materials is hardly possible due to filling processes of the joints and attaching processes of the tiles onto the base whereupon reciprocal movements due to heat expansion differences must hardly be allowed.

Further from the publication EP 0277867 A1 the first tiling casette is known to which a plate with holes belongs to the holes of which plate pieces of corresponding size are located with the meaning that they form the supports of the tiles. The frame is taken away and another tiling casette, which has stands as tile controllers, substitutes it. The tiling process is performed according to these procedures and the frame is taken away.

From the publication FR 2415702 A1 various edge pieces, which control the positioning of the tiles, are known. With the help of the edge pieces the stationary status of the tiles is not ensured, but only the positioning for the glue attachment. They are stationary tiles that are a part of the mosaic patterning of the tiling.

A coating method for a surface is known from the publication. WO 2004057131 in which adjacent elements are attached to each other with a tongue-and-groove joint.

From the publications JP 2006233426 A1, DE 102006003515 A1 and FR 2555629 A1 coating methods for surfaces, in which spaces have been left for lights, heating cables or other cables underneath the tiles or between them, are known.

In order to achieve the above mentioned figures to be formed onto tiled floors in an improved way and in order to broaden the usage of various materials in relation to stone tiles or other moulded tiles, a significant improvement has been achieved in the present method in relation to the prior art. It is characteristic of the method according to the invention that the method comprises a casette that includes the bottom of the casette, a frame, which can be located on top of the bottom of the casette, which frame controls the installation of the surface elements and their stability whereupon the edges of the mentioned frame have been adjusted to form a opening with the other respective edges of the frames to which an interlocking piece, adjusted to have the shape and size of the hole, can be installed when the casettes are left at their place as belonging to the system.

The advantage of the method according to the invention is the fact that the installation of the floor is easy to perform and will be done in the right way and by maintaining direct lines because the installation of the surface elements will be done in the casettes that determine the direction of the lines and always position the next surface elements to the right place. It is natural to use various materials because the frames of the casette are not made of stone. An immediate result of this is the fact that with the help of the frames different changes in colour can be made to come out in a completely different way than in conventional solutions that utilize the fact that tiles have been positioned in an alternating way by using stone tiles. Floor heating can be installed for example at the bottom of each casette and also different lighting possibilities through the floor can come into question. When the casettes are attached to each other with the help of the tongue-and-groove joint formed with the help of an intermediate slip, any casette can be disassembled away from the floor and can be installed again. Also the beginning of the installation of the casettes can be performed at any part of the floor.

In the following the invention is described more detailed by referring to the accompanying drawing in which

FIG. 1 shows a floor coating solution according to the invention shown from above.

FIG. 2 shows a section view taken from the FIG. 1 along the line II-II.

FIG. 3 shows a section view taken from the FIG. 1 along the line III-III.

FIG. 4 shows an interlocking piece as a section view.

FIG. 5 shows a heating resistance located at the bottom of a casette.

FIG. 6 shows a casette shown from above.

FIGS. 6 a-c show an interlocking piece from various directions.

FIG. 7 shows the casette of the FIG. 6 as a side view.

In FIG. 1 an implementation of the floor coating method according to the invention for coating a floor by using the casette method is shown. The frames 2 of the casette are located around each tile 1. The material of the frames 2 of the casette can be wood, plastic, metal or various combinations of them. There is for example a tongue-and-groove joint 6 between the adjacent frames of the casette, like the FIG. 2 shows. The edges of the frames 2 of the casette form together a quadrangular hole to which the interlocking piece 4, which has been sized to the hole, is located. Due to the interlocking piece 4 the frames 2 cannot move in horizontal plane. Also the tiles 1 are then located at their places. To each joint for example a colourless, sealing joint mass can be piped after the installation. Each frame cell is its own casette whereupon one tile 1 will be installed to it, as shown in the FIG. 1, or for example a selected tile collection formed of smaller tiles will be installed to it with which the space of the frame 2 is filled. The method according to the invention gives an opportunity to fill the space of the frame with any choice and positioning and decoration of covering materials.

In FIG. 2 a section is shown along the line II-II whereupon the bottom parts 3 of the casette, which are underneath the tiling, can be seen as the undermost parts. The bottom parts 3 are quadrangular and a little bit bigger than the tiles 1 and splayed at their edges most advantageously according to the FIG. 5. An advantageous size for the bottom 3 is such a size that when they are being arranged, a hole 5, which is for example 8 mm wide, is left between them in each direction. In this hole 5 electric cables can be led if a lighting or a heating is arranged to the floor. The bottom 3 of the casette can be a separate plate, but most advantageously it is built fixed to the frame 2 being the same material or the frame being different material; it has been attached to the bottom 3 of the casette in advance whereupon the casette is ready to be installed.

In the FIG. 3 a section along the line III-III is shown whereupon the interlocking piece 4 is adjusted accurately both between the bottom parts 3 of the casette that have diagonal edges and between the frames 2 of the casette that have diagonal edges. The interlocking piece 4 is arranged as the last part by pressing it to the hole from above. The casette, which comprises a bottom 3 and a frame 2, is arranged on top of a base material, like a bottom carpet used in relation to a parquet. The stone tiles 1 can also be glued to the bottom parts 3 of the casette, if needed. Also the frames 2 can be glued to the bottom plate 3. The interlocking piece 4 can have a shape of a quadrangle, a round form or a regular polygon. A casette solution advantageously has a bottom 3, a frame 2, a heating cable 9 and a tile 1 or a tile arrangement that fills the middle part ready to be installed. Also a lighting 7 can be ready in the casette, if needed.

An interlocking piece 4, to which a lighting 7 is connected, is shown in the FIG. 4. A space 8 for the electric connections is formed underneath the interlocking piece 4 with the help of the design of the piece.

In the FIG. 5 the bottom 3 of the casette is shown, on top of it the forms of the tile 1 with dashed lines and the heating cable 9 located to the groove made onto the surface of the bottom 3. The cable is connected to a switch box located underneath the interlocking piece 4. Electricity is being cabled from the interlocking piece 4 to the next interlocking piece in the hole 5 between the bottom parts 3 according to the FIG. 2. If heating is wanted underneath some of the tiles 1, the connection to the cable 9, which is underneath it, is made at the interlocking piece located at its place.

In FIG. 6 there is a frame 2 attached on top of the bottom of the casette, heating resistance 9 in the grooves of the bottom and the ends of the cable 9 that come out of one edge. The bottom 3 comes farther out than the edges 2 of the frame and forms a visible extension. Holes 10 and 11 are drilled to these extensions. The meaning of the hole 10 is the fact that for example a bottom plate 3 can be attached to the wall. There is a hole 11 in the interlocking piece 4 for the pin 16 located on the corresponding place. At the interlocking piece 4 there are pins at each four edge so that it locks the bottom parts 3 of the casettes and also the frames 2 accurately to each other. Various tile arrangements, for example tiles 14, 15, can be located inside the frame 2.

The holes 13 for the outlet of the cable 9 can be seen more accurately in the side drawing of the FIG. 7. Also the abutments of the frame 2 can all be female whereupon a slip 19, which can be adjusted to the abutment grooves, is installed to the tongue-and-groove joint. After the interlocking piece 4 has been detached, the bendable abutment slip 19 can be drawn out whereupon an individual casette can be lifted up from the floor when the slips 19 are taken away around it. Wood, metal, plastic or similar material is suitable to be the material for the frame 2. The interlocking part 4 is made for example of wood, stone, transparent material. 

1. Covering method for a floor or another surface which method is implemented with the help of surface elements, such as tiles (1) to which method positioning of surface elements (1) onto the intended surface in order to form the desired figures onto the surface by using frames (2) and devices (4), which ensure the stability, belongs, characterized in that the method comprises a casette to which a bottom (3) of the casette and a frame (2), which can be attached on top of the bottom (3) of the casette or is built fixed to it and which controls the installation of the surface elements and their stability, belong whereupon the edges of the mentioned frame (2) are adjusted to form a hole with the other, respective edges of the frames (2) of the casettes to which hole an interlocking piece (4), adjusted to the shape and the size of the hole, can be installed when the casettes are left to their places as belonging to the system.
 2. Covering method according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom (3) of the casette has a larger size than the space that has been outlined with the help of the inner edge of the frame (2).
 3. Covering method according to claim 1, characterized in that there is a joint arrangement at the outer edge of the frame (2) with the adjacent frame (2).
 4. Covering method according to claim 1, characterized in that the interlocking piece (4) is symmetrical, either round, a quadrangle or a polygon.
 5. Coverng method according to claim 1, characterized in that a lighting (7) is adjusted to the interlocking piece (4) or to the bottom (3) of the casette.
 6. Covering method according to claim 1, characterized in that a heating cable (9) is adjusted to the bottom (3) of the casette.
 7. Covering method according to claim 1, characterized in that the needed electrical connections are arranged to the bottom of the interlocking piece (4) or to the space (8) underneath it.
 8. Covering method according to claim 1, characterized in that the space (5) for the cables is arranged between the bottom parts (3) of the casette. 